Meaning & use
benign
Gentle, kindly, and not harmful, or, in medicine, not cancerous and unlikely to cause serious harm.
See it in a sentence
Despite his gruff appearance, he had a benign and generous nature.
The doctor was relieved to confirm that the tumor was benign.
A note on using this word
In medical contexts, benign is the direct opposite of 'malignant', which describes a tumor that is cancerous and can spread.
Words with a similar meaning
harmlessgentle
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
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